Preakness, Triple Crown and Studio Racing

 

William G. Gotimer, Jr.
May 18, 2026

THE PREAKNESS STAKES BECOMES STUDIO RACING

The 2026 Preakness Stakes is in the books and Napoleon Solo, named after the secret agent character in the 1960’s cold war television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., used his natural speed and trainer Chad Summer’s conditioning to gut out a win at a mile and three-sixteenths over the Laurel Park surface. Owned by Al Gold, under the stable name Gold Square Stable, the winner was forwardly placed throughout and had enough bottom to grind home in a slow final quarter mile and hold off the equally tired Iron Honor.

If Daisy Phipps Pulito’s interview in the winner’s circle after the Kentucky Derby was a reminder of the old guard, Al Gold’s interview was equally revealing as an owner who has found consistent success with moderately priced bloodstock. Gold was gracious in his acceptance of the trophy, sharing credit with the colt’s connections while paying homage to his New Jersey roots by at first stating and then retracting that the Preakness win was only his second favorite win (after he won New Jersey’s marquee race the Haskell with Cyberknife in 2022.)  Not surprisingly Gold indicated Napoleon Solo would now aim for this year’s Haskell rather than the Belmont Stakes three weeks from now.

This year’s Preakness was remarkable for two things – its large mutuel handle and its small on track crowd.

Run at the Laurel Park facility due to the reconstruction of Pimlico Race Course, the race was viewed on-track by fewer than 5,000 people.  While the traditional crush of race fans was absent, the off-track gamblers more than made up for the missing fans by producing extremely strong betting on the race and its undercard. The combination of a full field with no clear-cut favorite proved popular with the bettors and serves as a reminder that large, equally matched fields always lead to robust betting handle.

STUDIO RACING

When simulcasting of horse races was in its earliest stages and speculation about how it would affect horse racing was being debated, one commenter wryly predicted that “horses of the future will be 1 inch high”. That observation expressed belief that horses would mostly be viewed on a television screen rather than in person. While this prediction about size has proven wrong with the proliferation of ever larger television screens, the prediction of the product moving to television proved correct. The term “studio racing” was used for conducting racing primarily for a television rather than a live audience.  While studio racing has never officially come to be, racing largely occurs in the absence of a meaningful live audience in the United States on all but the biggest racing days.

This year’s Preakness produced a robust betting handle from afar and confirms what most horse bettors already know – that betting from home can be easier than betting on site on big days. There was a time in my lifetime when the New York Racing Association eschewed large crowds of non-bettors on Belmont Day, unaffected by the larger crowds of partiers drawn by the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, in favor of serving their consistent betting regulars. While I don’t think those days are apt to return, this year’s Preakness proves that bettors will respond to a compelling race even in the absence of on-track spectacles.

Perhaps a stakes quality card with admission of fans “by invitation only” has some merit. And should be considered as an experiment.

TRIPLE CROWN SERIES

Much has been made of the spacing of the Triple Crown races and its effect on the series. Perhaps we are wrong in viewing it as a series at all. Much effort has been concentrated on Triple Crown winners and near winners but each of the classic three-year-old races is different and should stand on its own without focusing on a sweep or possible sweep.

It is the rare horse that is suited by each of the conditions and the pressure asserted, mostly by parties outside racing, to find a horse each year to try and sweep the series is in my opinion misguided. Each horse should run where and when it is best suited. When it comes to horses, experience teaches that patience is a virtue and can be rewarded. The connections of Golden Tempo, Napoleon Solo and Renegade all enter the summer with sound, fresh horses and will be better off for it. So will racing.